British PM accuses Brussels of meddling in election

May 3, 2017 8:19 pm

By AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE, London, United Kingdom, May 3 – Prime Minister Theresa May accused Brussels on Wednesday of trying to influence next month’s election with “threats against Britain” over Brexit talks, as the two sides traded blows over the country’s exit bill.

May fired off her broadside after the bloc’s Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier warned that the negotiations on Britain’s divorce from the EU would not be quick or painless.

She said the hardening of the European Commission’s stance was “deliberately timed to affect the result” of the snap June 8 general election.

Speaking outside her Downing Street office, May said there were some on the European Union side who “do not want these talks to succeed”.

May’s Brexit strategy has come under fire following reports of a disastrous meeting with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, who reportedly emerged from the encounter deeply pessimistic about the prospect of a deal.

He said the “clock is ticking” for a settlement, saying there had been “10 months of uncertainty” since Britain narrowly voted in June to leave the EU, the first country to do so.

– ‘Nothing to be paid’ –

Barnier’s proposed negotiating mandate closely follows the political guidelines unanimously agreed at a summit on Saturday by the leaders of the other 27 EU nations without Britain.

It demands that before talks on a future trade deal can start, Britain must first settle divorce terms on money, the rights of EU citizens living in Britain, and the border with the Republic of Ireland.

May, who has promised to take Britain out of Europe’s single market in order to control immigration, wants the talks to run in parallel.

She repeated her warning Wednesday that Britain could walk away from the negotiations, although she said: “We want a deal.”

Her Brexit minister David Davis, who is likely to be the man opposite Barnier during the talks, issued a similar warning.

“We will not be paying 100 billion,” he told British media. “In the walk-away circumstance there is nothing to be paid.”

– ‘Different galaxy’ –

His comments drew a rebuke from Juncker, who said: “I don’t think that David was right when he was threatening that he would be ready to go out.

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